MIT Baseball Announces 2012 Schedule

Nov 17, 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Fresh off one of the most successful seasons in its history, the MIT baseball team will open its 2012 season on March 3, 2012 when it takes on Keene State in a game that will be played at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, N.Y.

MIT finished with a 25-15 record in 2011, matching the team record for wins, and was selected for its second NCAA Tournament appearance. The Engineers, who finished just one game behind Wheaton and Babson in the 2011 NEWMAC standings, will begin their pursuit of a conference title and consecutive NCAA appearances the first weekend of March when they will play Keene State on the 3rd and Western New England on the 4th, with both games taking place on Long Island.

"We face a very demanding schedule and play several of the top ranked schools in the region," said MIT head baseball coach Andy Barlow. "We return almost our entire pitching staff from a year ago and also boast a strong incoming recruiting class, so we fully expect to contend for a NEWMAC conference championship in 2012."

MIT will play its home opener on March 14 when it will take on Wentworth Institute of Technology. It is then straight into the teeth of NEWMAC conference play, as the Engineers play the top two teams from last season, Wheaton and Babson, on the first two weekends of conference action. MIT has 16 home games on the schedule, including 10 in April when Brandeis, Springfield, Endicott, Clark, Wesleyan Univ., Worcester State and WPI all pay visits to Briggs Field. NEWMAC Tournament play will be on April 28 with first and second round games, and May 5-6 when the final rounds will be played.

MIT returns the bulk of its pitching staff, including the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year for 2011, junior Aric Darma (Winfield, Ill. – 5-2, 2.45 ERA, 55K). Also returning to the starting rotation will be sophomore Kiel Jindra (Oceanside, Calif. – 3-1, 2.53 ERA), while the bullpen will be anchored by junior Henry Zhu (Overland Park, Kan. – 5-2, 1.41 ERA).